Good news...

and more good news!

First and foremost, I must say that I can't believe I've let my shoulder bother me for the past 4 months or so without doing anything about it...because the ibuprofen is doing wonders! I got in the car this morning (hadn't even taken a dose since last night at dinner time) and usually one of the manuvers that is painful is holding open the car door...I held it open and nothing! No pain! I am kicking myself for not looking into home treatment before now! Hopefully, it will continue to heal and I can leave this little episode behind me!

Then, last night I did find the Jillian Michaels dvd on OnDemand. I watched it all the way through to get an idea of what I was up against. It didn't look too hard to me! I don't have any hand weights at the house so I went rummaging through the kitchen to find something I could use and came up with 2 jars of spaghetti sauce :) Nice little improv there! I headed for the livingroom and turned it on. Holy cow! That 20 minutes was no joke! My quads were screaming just by the end of the first circuit! With some moves, I couldn't even make it all the way through to the end of the set. For someone who has been fairly inactive for the past few months, this was a killer! I was sweating and huffin' and puffin'. But, I sure felt great when I got done! It was basically a 20 minute circuit training session where you do 3 minutes of strength training (doing multiple muscles groups at once), 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs...3 circuits. Whew! I'm already dreading doing it again tonight, but I know its going to make a big difference! And to think...that was only level 1 of 3...

Lastly, I haven't been sleeping or eating that well since my whole upset in my personal life and I am proud to say that I may have actally got my whole 7 hours in last night! Yeah! Of course, I still feel exhausted, but I figure this means I'm starting to move back in the right direction! I'll probably try to take a nap after work since I'll be up late for New Year's tonight. And on that note, Happy New Year to everyone and see ya on the other side!

I'm still here!

No, I didn't give up...I went home for the holidays!

I'm from Portland, Oregon and we aren't known for our snowfall out there. So, when almost 10 inches fell in 2 days, let's just say the city pretty much came to a stand still. That's right, no plowing, no school, most businesses closed. Talk about lots of fun :( There I sat, trapped (literally) in my mother's house with her and her boyfriend for DAYS. Okay, I love my mom. I really, really do. But this was enough to drive me up the wall! And what did I do to distract myself? BAKE! Yes, I filled the house will all kinds of sweets and then, of course, ate them all :)

Here is the most shocking part of the story...I got on the scale this morning and...wait for it...no weight gain! Amazing! This is one of those miracles that you just don't question because there is no good explanation!

In my personal life, I just finished up with a very co-dependent and messy situation and despite the part of me that is obviously hurt and upset, I actually feel so much more free and energized! So, I'm throwing all that energy into ME! Yes, no more putting other people before myself! This year I will be first on my agenda!

A girlfriend of mine just started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and said she totally loves it! Rumor has it that you can get it on Comcast OnDemand so I'm going to try to check it out tonight. This bum shoulder of mine is going to probably be a problem, but I bought a big ol' bottle of ibuprofen this afternoon and will begin ice pack treatments tonight. If that doesn't work, it'll be off to the doc I go and probably require some physical therapy. That will be a bummer!

I think that's about all from this homefront!

Weigh In Monday

Down 3 pounds this week. That is still too much, but I have a feeling it will start evening out here soon enough. My girl and I have big plans to Wii Fit ourselves to death when I'm home for the holidays. I've been slow to get my workout on...mostly because I feel like I really need to get my eating in check first. Food is my true downfall and I feel like once I've come to terms with that, the rest will be easy. I'm definitely getting there, but not quite "free" of temptation!

So, I'm down 5 pounds. I thought I'd be more excited than this. Probably because nothing feels different. Wait...I take that back. This morning when I was putting on my pants, I did notice that the waistband wasn't squeezing me to death, but I was also quite alarmed at all the excess fabric hanging around my butt. Why, God? Why must the butt and the boobs always be the first to go? It's not like I have a lot to spare here! For a "thick" girl, I've never had big tata's and there ain't a whole lotta junk in this trunk! And truth be told...now there is even less! Has anyone yet figured out how to divert fat from our thighs into our butt? Or from our upper arms into our boobs? Maybe I need to get working on that one... :) Happy Monday!

The Good and the Bad of it!

So, Thursday has kind of been my mid-week check in day with the scale. I don't want to become a crazy person that is jumping on it every 5 seconds, but I also find it hard to make it a whole week without getting an idea of where things are headed. So...this morning...down 5 pounds since I started! Which sounds great, right?! Except I only started a week and a half ago and that is WAY too much weight loss for my body type in that amount of time. Being the overly logical person that I am, this weight loss is a bad thing! I'm losing too much, too fast, which means muscle mass. Noooooooo!

Let me be honest here...I feel like I'm eating plenty. I've gotten way past the days of starving just an hour after a meal. But all this healthy food...fruits, veggies, fibery stuff...it has not freakin' calories! This isn't my fault, people! I'm eating. Eating lots. It's just not adding up to much. Everyday I say I'm going to eat more, but when I add it up at the end of the day, I'm always around 1200 - 1300 calories. And it's not enough :(

Another Challenge?

So far, I have failed miserably at the two challenges I attempted to be a part of this fall. Boo on me! But, Baby Tea Leaves is hosting yet another challenge and I'm itching to sign up! This challenge revolves around preparing for an event (say a 5k) and then hopefully weight loss will be a happy side effect! Well, here in Chicago we have the Shamrock Shuffle, which is a HUGE run that everyone kind of comes out of hibernation for. It's at the very end of March and usually FREEZING. The run is an 8k, which is totally a doable distance for me, but will still require me to put in effort to work back up to. So, sounds perfect, right?

Here's the catch...do I really want to make another running goal? I kind of have a love/hate thing going on with running. I know it's what works for losing weight. It's the one thing you can do anywhere. But, well, it sucks :) I've had some good runs in my time. You know, the ones where you look at your time or think of how easy that felt and just have to call and brag to someone...yeah, I've had a couple. Mostly though, I've dreaded my runs. Had to push myself to even finish my runs...or let's be real, to even start them! Is running really what I want to do? I'm not sure! Lucky for me, registration for the Shamrock Shuffle doesn't open until January 1st so I've got a little time to think about it. Until then, I better get on the treadmill :)

Test 1: Eating Out

Test attempted and test passed! I was showing someone around the city last night and we went out for dinner. There weren't a whole lot of vegetarian items on the list, so I was limited. Finally, the Margherita Pizza won me over. Well, it was HUGE when it came out of the kitchen and under my nose. I made a decision that I'd have 2 pieces and I didn't have any problem stopping! That was amazing. Usually, if I have a plate in front of me, I'll pick on it until its gone. Oh yeah...I also had one small piece of bread from the bread basket instead of wiping it out like I usually would!

The one bonus to being completely consumed with my current real-life drama is that it leaves no time to be consumed by food. It's great. I don't eat until I'm hungry. I stop when I'm done. I don't pick. I don't dream about what I'm going to eat later. I just plain don't anything. It's such a freeing feeling!

And the biggest news! The official weigh in was this morning and I'm down 2.2 pounds! That is actually kind of a lot for what I weigh, so I need to make sure that I'm eating enough, but I'm very happy with it. Just gotta focus on keeping it up!

Still Truckin'

Amazingly, I have not fallen off the wagon yet...I know, it's only been 5 days :) But, hey, you gotta start somewhere! And, well, I did sneak back on the scale and it was down 2.5 pounds. So, I'm feeling a little better about that previous weigh in. Of course, as I mentioned before, I've been kind of dealt a crappy hand the past couple of days and whenever I'm upset over something, it always comes through in the form of tummy problems. Having an upset stomach all the time is a great way to keep from over-eating. Yesterday I found that I didn't eat nearly enough. I'm trying to pay much closer attention today to make sure that doesn't happen again. I know not eating enough can do as much harm as eating too much!

This morning as I got ready for work, I debated packing my gym bag...I even went as far as opening my "workout clothes drawer" and looking for something to wear. But, I couldn't find my favorite pants and quickly decided I would not be working out today. Bad Girl! I still sort of hold firm to the belief that I don't want to get in over my head and get overwhelmed...so, maybe its better to get this whole food thing sorted out first! I'm actually kind of excited to "officially" weigh in on Monday and see a little progress!

Half Empty or Half Full?

So this morning, against my better judgement I climbed up on the scale...and I'm .2 pounds heavier than Monday! Augh! What am I doing wrong here? Anywho, this got me to thinking. I see this number going up and I want to throw my hands in the air and yell, SCREW IT THEN! Why do through all this "hard work" to see no results? Then, I suddenly thought of those people that would see that number climb and tell themselves that they just need to work that much harder to make this turn around! The people that would actually find MOTIVATION in an increase. Why am I not that person? Am I a glass half empty type of gal?

What is your reaction when you see a gain on the scale? Half empty or half full?

Still held fast to my good eating habits yesterday and so far today. Although, I will confess that I allowed myself to eat lunch out today. I had a ceasar salad and lucky for me they were out of parmesan :( But I suppose that is better for my waist line any way! I got some upsetting news today that has kind of had my belly in flip flops this afternoon, so I suppose that is helping my waist line too! Hopefully, after the holidays and after I've kicked a few of these bad habits, I'll get this toosh back in the gym and we'll get the ol' metabolism crankin'!

Day 2

Hmmm...the first words that come to mind when I think about Day 2 are successful and STARVING! :)

I guess all that excess I had in my belly from Thanksgiving is what got me through Monday cuz yesterday was much more difficult on the hunger scale! I would eat something and an hour later, my belly was growling again. I'm just thankful that I didn't have any meetings to be in since nothing is more embarrassing than a growling stomach in a silent room.

Still staying away from coffee and so far it's been pretty okay. My wallet is pretty happy about it too! Although...confession time...I'm already dreaming of when I can indulge in a DECAF mocha...yummy... :)

Here was yesterday's food log:

Fiber One Honey Clusters (1 cup) - 160
1/2 cup Soy Milk - 50
Tea w/ Fiber Splenda - 0
Grapes - 200...I found very conflicting info on calorie content so I figured I'd take the highest
Banana - 100
Soup - 120
Apple - 75
High Fiber Oatmeal - 160
Sweet Potato Fries - 130
Garlic Fries - 120
Garden Burger - 90
Fiber One Bar - 140

Total - 1345

Can you tell I have fiber issues? Hahaha...I'm always afraid I'm not getting enough...writing it all down makes me look like I have a serious problem!

Wow...its been awhile :)

What can I say? Life got in the way! Well, that and the fact that every time I sat down to write, I just drew a blank. Sadly, I'm in no better place than when I started! Boo! But, I'm back in the saddle and this time I've got my partner in crime along for the ride. Nothing like a little friend support to keep things moving!

First, I'm going to try to rid myself of a few vices. The first being coffee. Yes, I know, you've heard it before. Get over it. I'm trying again :) Second, sugar. Sugar is the devil and I've been in bed with it for way too long! And finally, frozen food. I don't know what I would do without frozen meals and my microwave and that is no way to live! No worries, I'm taking these one at a time. Starting with coffee. Once I feel that I've finally gotten past it, I'll move on to sugar and so on. So, Day 1, no coffee :)

Here is what I ate today:

Tea w/ Splenda - 0
Fruit cup - 100
Banana - 100
Lean Cuisine - 240
Hot Chocolate - 190
Oatmeal - 160
Pasta - 510

Total - 1300...a little low, but I'll work on that tomorrow!

Not too bad of a start and amazingly, I haven't felt at all hungry! I did start to have the Starbucks craving this afternoon, so I figured going down there and getting a hot chocolate might help...and it did! There is a lot to be said for just going through the motions. I'm not even sure it was coffee I was craving or just the thought of going down there and getting something since I'm so used to it.

Day 1 almost over and I'd call it a success!

Holding Steady and Strange Sound

Well, as of this morning, I'm holding steady on the scale. After a lazy and somewhat free-for-all with food weekend, I'll take the zero loss...cuz its also a zero gain.

This is the week I attend 3 bootcamp classes. Based on the times, its going to be a little hard. I think I'm going to work out by myself tonight to take the place of one of them. Then I'll hit the noon bootcamp on Wed and the 5pm bootcamp on Friday. This should be interesting! They are allowing our students in the bootcamp (I work at a college) and I'm a little weirded out by the thought of sweating my butt off next to someone I was chasing down for payment the week before :) Yikes.

On a totally off-topic note, there is some strange noise going on in my neighborhood and it's been there for several days now. I first noticed it when I tried to sleep out in my livingroom on Friday night. The sound reminds me of the Wheel of Fortune wheel turning :) But, it goes faster and then slows down, then speeds up, etc...but never stops. It is very faint, but just loud enough to keep me from falling asleep. So, I went to my room to sleep and could not hear it from there. The next morning, I noticed it was still there. And again on Sunday. And yes, this morning as well. Here is the interesting part. As I was walking to the bus this morning, there were moments when all was quiet on the street and I could hear the noise! It must be some kind of machinery or something. I hope it stops soon because if I have to hear that forever, I'm going to go crazy!

That's all for now!

A Butt Whoopin'...as usual!

Yesterday was my session with the trainer...OMG. Miraculously, I actually woke up early so I managed to be alert and semi-alive by the time I got to the trainer. I haven't worked out with her in quite some time, but I knew what was coming! We usually do three circuits of various exercises that vary each time I work with her.

We started off with what one of her clients dubbed "Wickeds"...if that gives you any idea of what was to come! They were squats you do with one leg raised behind you and resting on a bench. I don't know how many I did on each leg, I'm pretty sure she doesn't count. I think she just watches your face as you begin to look like you may pass out and then she says, "Three more!" After that we moved to balancing in a puch up position with my legs up on the big exercise ball. Pretty easy the first time, but by the 3rd circuit I could barely balance myself!

Next it was over to the big pulley machine where you can do just about any arm exercise your mind can think up. I did forward chest presses while lunging on alternating legs with each one. Again, fairly easy until that last circuit. Finally it was down to the mat to do flutters for as long as I could stand it and then a set of full sit ups.

Wow, writing it down, it doesn't sound like much, but boy did it kill me. And I am sore like nobody's business today! I'd like to get a run in today since we are finally having cool weather. I'm considering actually going out to my good ol' lake front path...hoping it won't bring about bad memories and will give me a little push instead!

I have finally updated my ticker. After being in denial about my slight gain (and refusing to post that sucker!) I'm moving it to where it should be so that I can be honest with myself. Yikes!

Happy Friday!

Week One

The Bootcamp chick sent me my Week 1 workouts yesterday. Pretty easy stuff since I told her to put me in the Beginner/Intermediate group :) The way the bootcamp works is that on the odd numbered weeks (1,3,5) I do 3 workouts that she sends me and one personal training session with her. Then on the even weeks (2,4,6) I go to 3 bootcamp workout sessions with the group. Of course, ToM arrived yesterday...perfect timing. Oh well!

Did a big, healthy grocery shopping last night to stock up on all the goods to do this thing right. I'm not much of a cook so its a lot of easy to prepare things. But, I tried to make it healthy! Whenever I workout a lot, I obviously get hungrier, so I'm going to try to not let myself get carried away with that and go crazy. It's easy to excuse yourself from eating a little too much because you worked out.

Other than that, not much going on! I'm working on two scarves right now that I've been totally meaning to post pics of. I love them both! It's really going to take some time management on my part to get them done in time for Christmas, but I'll have to find a way!

I drove to work today and parked in a garage that you have to be out of by 7pm. Since I get off at 6pm, the workout is going to have to be a quickie. I'll probably only do the cardio piece and double up on the weight training one day. This is how I think the week will shake out:

Mon: --
Tue: 30 min cardio
Wed: 30 min cardio, weight training
Thu: Personal training session
Fri: --
Sat: 30 min cardio, weight training (2x)
Sun: --

Wish me luck!

This ain't pretty...

The numbers from my bootcamp Pre-assessment, I mean! Augh!

She pinched me all over with that little fat squeezer device and it came up with an ugly number! 30%!!! She did say that the margin of error was 3%...but that could also mean that it is 33%!! Not that I'm really all that surprised since my WW scale says I'm 28.something%, but still! So, my goal for bootcamp is to lower that by 4% over the 6 weeks. That would put me solidly in the "Fair" category. I've never really aimed for body fat loss so I'm not even sure 4% is a realistic goal...I guess we'll see!

Then came all the measurements. I can't believe I'm actually going to post these for the world to see! Yikes!

Shoulder: 39.5...got my daddy's broad ones :)
Chest: 36
Abdomen: 35...holy cow
Waist: 29
Hips: 41.5...I don't want to see any number in the 40's!
Thigh: 24.5...crazy that my thigh is almost as big as my waist! But, I've always had thunder thighs, no matter how small I've been, so that probably isn't going to change much!

My goal for inches is going to be to lose a total of 6 inches. I think that should be relatively easy. Or I HOPE it will be relatively easy :)

My confession: After eating fairly healthy yesterday, I had to run to the Whole Foods to pick up some greens for the bunny and ended up buying a huge cookie from Carol's Cookies. If you've never had one, they are enormous! My intent was to eat only half. Which I did. Until an hour later when I ate the other half :) Oops.

Down with Comcast!

I've been a little MIA because I disconnected my home internet service on Friday. I've had nothing but problems with Comcast and I've finally had enough! Why continue giving my money to a company who gives me nothing in return?! My internet constantly goes off-line and either they cannot figure out the problem or they send out technicians that never show up. I'm over it. I'm thinking of just paying more to have a wireless card and have access anywhere. I'm still researching though!

I have my bootcamp "pre-assessment" today. That should be absolutely horrifying! But, at the same time, it will be good for me to be scared straight :) I'll let you guys know what happens!

In trying to prepare for my office Wellness Challenge, I've been going through my bookshelves and realized I have a ton of health books! Books about diet, books about vegetarianism, books about running (LOTS of those!) and then a million fitness magazines to boot! The one I really found myself looking at is the American Heart Association's No-Fad Diet. The book is written in simple, straight to the point terms. They also give you a few options on how to cut calories and how to get active. One that I really liked was the 75% method. Basically, you just keep eating what you usually would, you just get rid of a quarter of it. That way, you don't feel deprived and you don't have to go through extensive planning or preparations to make the adjustment. I do realize for a chocoholic like me, this may not be the most healthy option, but it definitely sounded like the easiest! For example, if I usually consume 2000 calories a day, cutting out 25% is 500 calories. That is a pound a week!

So, I'm still planning and prepping for this challenge. I want to offer a "seminar" each week that would be about a different avenue of health and each attendee would get points for the week for attending. Other than that, I would just be the coordinator and be on a team myself. Oh yeah, and be the prize finder :)

For a Good Cause!

I went to the office microwave to heat up my Lean Cuisine a few minutes ago, and as I was impatiently waiting for the 3 1/2 minutes to go by, I started reading the meal box. Lo and behold I saw the cutest thing and for a good cause too!

These adorable little thermal lunch totes! They are only $9.95 and $5 of that goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation! I couldn't help it! I totally just ordered the patchwork one! So, check them out if you are a frozen meal junkie (like me!) at leancuisine.com. Total cuteness :)

I Need Your Help!

So, I have been thinking about starting a Wellness Program at my office for the longest time and I'm finally ready to get this show on the road! What I really need is a little input from people. I want to kick it off with a team based competition. So, people would be in teams of 3 or 4 and have a weekly check in where they would get points for various things such as eating right, drinking lots of water, exercise, getting enough sleep, etc. Each person would set a new weekly goal, as well as a overall performace goal and get points for meeting those also.

But, being that I have no money in our budget for this little ditty, I'm gonna have to charge a fee to participate. Although, I did get money put in for next year! Yay me! So, if you'd answer a few questions with your opinion, I'd be very grateful!

1) How much would you be willing to pay to participate in this challenge?
2) What do you feel is a good duration for the challenge? Long enough to feel you really made progress, but not so long that you lose interest.
3) Would you expect the Wellness Program (basically me!) to provide you with opportunities and resources to succeed with the challenge or would you think it was okay if you and your team were solely responsible for meeting your goals?
4) Any other ideas or advice on how to make this a success?? I'm really excited!!

Thank you for your help!

On another note, the boot camp is now officially official! I have an appointment on Tuedsay to do my "pre-assessment". Yay. I have a feeling this is going to include getting my fat pinched in areas that I do not want to be pinched! Ew!

Boot Camp, Here I Come!

Notice that I didn't update my ticker with my gain? Yeah, that's me in denial :)

So, this morning I officially signed up for the 6-week program being offered by the gym here at work. I figured for 6 weeks, I can somehow manage to fit it in! Plus, I know how easy it is to get lazy in the winter so this is probably a great lead in to keep me moving during those cold months!

On a totally different note, I just signed up to be a volunteer at the Mile 5 water station for the Chicago Marathon, hosted by Breast Cancer Network of Strength (formerly Y-ME). I've been the captain of a team for BCNS for the past 4 years at my office so this is exciting to do something with them other than their annual fundraiser and walk. Plus, since my friend is running the marathon, I was gonna have to be out there anyway! Now, I can be out there and help too! And with it being Mile 5, we should be all closed up and done way before the race if over so I can still see him somewhere else on the course or at least see him finish!

Not sure why I'm so excited about this, but I am! :)

A Gain

Darn it, darn it, darn it! But, I knew I was off track all week and although I everyday I swore that "tomorrow" would be the day I straightened out, it never happened. But this is a new week! A new start! No more evil biscotti lurking around the kitchen. Beautiful weather in the 70's all week. I will eat right and get this tushy moving!

I'm really thinking about joining some sort of fitness group. But why, oh why, do they have to be so expensive? One of the running groups here offers a Winter Warriors training group. It's 13 weeks and trains you for a half marathon. That is a distance I know I can handle since I've already run that far or farther on many occasions. But it costs something like $180! Then there is the gym upstairs. They are offering a 6-week program that includes 3 personal training sessions, 9 sweatshop classes (whatever those are!) and a daily fitness plan. That only costs $100. I've worked out with the trainer up there before and she kicked my butt! Only problem is that her hours don't really work very well for me.

I definitely feel like I gotta sign up for something to get me motivated though. I work better under pressure!

Oops...forgot!

Forgot to hold myself accountable for what I ate yesterday. I did exactly as I had planned until after dinner. I made biscotti for a co-worker and ended up eating about 3 pieces and a spoonful of dough. Augh.

Finding Time to Workout

I had a very interesting conversation with a friend last night about finding the time to workout. As many of you may know, I have tried to do my workouts in the morning. But I'm just not a morning person. I hate getting up. HATE IT. And then in the evening, well, although my intentions are usually good, most of the time it pans out to nothing.

Why is that?

We made a very startling discovery during out discussion. On the weekdays, I really only have the potential to get about 3 hours of down time. I get up in the morning with just enough time to get ready for work and get out the door. I'm at work all day, and to be honest, I rarely actually even take a lunch away from my desk. Then I commute home and can plan to be there around seven sometime. Depending if I have errands or chores to get done, how much time does that really leave me to just relax? Do nothing? Enjoy just having time before I go to bed and do it all over again? Not much. I've been that gym girl who works out 5 days a week. Spends an hour lifting and then another 45 minutes doing cardio. Who gets home in just enough time to shower, eat something and go to bed. Right now, I'm finding it very difficult to be her.

And we also decided that there is an on and off switch. We get up, we go to work, we think about all the things we are going to do later in the day and it all seems very attainable. But then something tends to happen between the time I leave the office and the time I get home. The switch that was "on" all day and had me moving and going and planning, seems to get switched to "off". Thus, making it suddenly really hard to fulfill all those plans I had just hours ago. When I get home, I realize I have a choice. I can stay "on" and keep moving and shaking or I can shut off and just relax. And unfortunately, right now I seem to like being off.

So, how do you find that balance? How do you fit in workouts (and everything else that goes with it like getting there, showering, etc) and yet still have time to just unwind? I can't seem to do it...or more likely, I don't seem to want to figure out how to do it. What do you do? How do you find the time?

H2O

I'm going to make a daily goal: Drink my freakin' water! I do generally drink a decent amount of water throughout the day, but probably only about half of what they actually recommend. The problem is that once I finish off the bottle, I'm too lazy to go refill it. Lame excuse, I know. Well, this week I've invested in a huge mug to get me in the habit of refilling. I'm on my second mug-full already! Woo Hoo!

Furthmore, I think my diet is slipping. The scale seems to have frozen and after 2 straight weeks of seeing a steady decline, this is a bit of a shock to my system! :) So, to give me just a little accountability, I'm going to post what I've eaten so far and whay I plan to eat later. I'll compare it to reality tomorrow!

Breakfast: Medium non-fat mocha at local cafe. Seriously, I'm usually not one to skip breakfast, but this morning got a little rushed!
Snack: Fiber One bar...yummy
Lunch: Amy's Mattar Paneer frozen dinner
Snack: Banana
Dinner: I'm thinking eggsalad in a whole wheat pita and a little salad on the side
Snack: Maybe a string cheese

And if I could somehow manage to actually get a little exercise in, my day would be complete!

Sabotage Sundays

I keep sabotaging myself on Sunday nights! Remember last week when I ate a bag of gourmet popcorn & went to Cold Stone?! Well, this week it was a huge piece of stuffed pizza at 9pm on Sunday night! What am I doing?

I did good all week long and then I blow it right before the weigh in on Monday! So, I refused to get on the scale yesterday :) I knew it would be up, but it wouldn't really be the right weight. Today I did weigh in and while it was still a bit higher than where it had been all last week, it was still showing a loss. That is much more acceptable!

This week has got to include more exercise. That is totally what was lacking last week. I got a very inspirational (slightly taunting) text from a friend this morning about getting the job done. He has lost 30 pounds in the past 7 months when he didn't even think it was possible to lose that much. He was trying to get it through my head that anything is possible. And I know it is. I need to have faith!!

Holy Thai Crunch Salad!

I've been promising my department (okay, me plus one) that we'd have lunch out on the house...well, on the company. So, today, as it was raining cats and dogs, we actually ventured out to do it! We ended up at the California Pizza Kitchen around the corner cuz, well, one umbrella between the two of us wasn't gonna get us too far!
I ordered my usual Thai Crunch Salad, minus the chicken (I'm a vegetarian) and avocado (I just don't like the stuff). OH YUM. I love this salad! I was very close to ordering the Margherita pizza, but then I mentally kicked myself in the bootie for even considering ordering myself an entire pizza. Like I could actually have that much self control!
I managed to eat just over half at lunch and pack up the rest. I'm now munching on that other half at my desk. It's not exactly crunchy anymore, but oh well. I'm loving it!

I feel skinny

And unfortunately, that isn't good!

Why, you ask?

Because once that belly gets to feeling a little flat and the pants start feeling a little loose, it becomse so much easier to say, hey, what's just one more cookie?! Yes, it always goes down like this for me. I start to feel better and like I'm making progress and therefore become more lax about my diet and activity. It's a bitter, vicious cycle :)

So, how am I going to break it? That is a good question! I guess I need to first throw all my jeans in the dryer and shrink them a size! :) I think that's a good start. Nothing like a tight pair of pants cutting into your waist to make you feel great! Beyond that, I think I better just make more of an attempt to get outside and moving while this weather is good. Temps here went from 90's this weekend to high 60s/low 70s this week. As long as Gustav doesn't drop too much rain on us, I'll be in good shape!

On a different note, the bunny had to be rushed to the vet again yesterday. I'm totally drained by this whole ordeal. I just want my healthy, happy bunny back! 2 more weeks until her next check up, assuming there aren't anymore emergencies. My poor baby!

I survived the weekend

Actually, I had done an excellent job of watching what I ate all weekend...until last night, that is!

After making good choices all weekend, I ended it with some caramel & cheese popcorn that I got in a goodie bag as a fundraiser I had attended Saturday night and then some ice cream at Cold Stone. In my defense, I got the smallest size and didn't finish it. Okay, I left about 3 bites :)

All of this watching my diet resulted in a 1.5 pound loss! Yay! Now, I just gotta keep it up!

I'm starving

Seriously.

In the 5 hours I've been awake, I've had a bowl of cereal (okay, I know Cap'n Crunch doesn't count for much!), a grande mocha, a banana and I'm starving to the point that I'm about to heat up my lunch already! I blame it on TOM. Damn You TOM!!! :)

Not much happenin'

I must be in PMS mode still. The most activity I got yesterday was walking the 3/4 mile from the bus stop to my house. Good times.

Basically, I laid on the couch all evening. Threw some cheese on a tortilla, unwrapped a Fiber One bar and called it good. Not really the "healthy" I've been aiming for!

BTW, have you tried these Fiber One bars? They are the bomb diggity! I've seen them mentioned on several other blogs so I can only imagine that the other flavors (besides chocolate) are good too! I keep meaning to try them, but the chocolate one is so tasty that I just keep buying it! Yum yum! I'm also a fiber freak so its nice to find something with fiber that is actually appealing!

Oh yeah, and I got on the scale this morning for a little check in and it's down a pound! Nice! Let's hope it holds for the official weigh in on Monday!

Rockin' & Rollin'

Still off to a good start. Yesterday I was a snackaholic, but don't think it was enough to derail my efforts! Time pretty much got away from me and I found myself running around like crazy once I was off work. My plan was to walk home from the train, walk to my friend's place to walk his dog, walk to the Target, then walk home. Yeah. Right.

I ended up getting off a half hour late and then the train took forever to come. In order to try to buy some time I hopped the bus to get from the train to my house. Strike One. I walked to my friend's house and got his dog. My plan was to only have him out for an hour, but everytime I'd be ready to leave the dog park, more of his pals would show up! We finally made it back to his house at 9:45pm. I called my friend (who had my car) to find out when he'd be heading home...turns out he was on his way. Why walk home when the ride would be there shortly?! Strike Two. And Three. Cuz that meant no Target last night. Dang it! Dang me! :)

At least being at the dog park all night meant my snacking problem was brought to a quick halt. Believe me, I did think about packing something to bring along!

Here is an article that was highlighted on Yahoo this afternoon. While I'm not sure that I agree that calories don't need counting, I do see her point and think that she has some good tips!

Weight Loss Without Counting Calories

Planning on a run tonight, but we'll see! Have a lovely Wednesday!

Not the Start I planned..

But okay, none-the-less!

I had totally forgot that I had to take the bunny to the vet first thing yesterday morning. In my rush to get her out the door, I forgot to eat breakfast. Not good. BUT! I redeemed myself slightly when I ended up at Starbucks and got a banana instead of the Cinnamon Chip Scone I was eye-balling! Once I was at work, I managed to be pretty good since I packed a lunch. I did slip and have a piece of Almond Roca. Bad Girl!

When I got home, I had to walk my friends dog and go to Whole Foods to get some greens for the bun-bun. So, I figured, why not walk it all! I walked from my house, to the Whole Foods, to my friends house and back home. It was only about 4 miles round trip, but I can live with that! After that, I ate dinner and promptly konked out on th couch :)

So, not what I had intended, but a good enough start!

The New Blog

Well here it is...the new blog. Why a new blog, you say? Well, mostly because I'm not sure the marathon is really what my life is about at this moment in time...or in the future for that matter! So, what's my new focus?

Just being a new healthy me!

My ultimate, while quite possibly unattainable, goal is to lose 15 pounds by 2009. Yes, it's going to totally suck :) It's going to take discipline and strength and most of all, giving up chocolate! Well, not completely giving up chocolate because that is just ridiculous, but you get the point!

I plan to detail not only my progress, but my meal planning, my workouts and anything else that is going to help me get to this goal. Which is another reason for the new blog...people who like running blogs may not be nearly as interested in my plight to drop these thunder thighs like a bad habit! I will try to post good recipes I find or related articles. I really hope that this isn't just a journal of my progress, but also becomes a useful tool for others.

I will blog more tomorrow with my detailed plan for the week! Happy Sunday!